My First Basketball Game: Life Lessons on the Court

My mother was an athlete. She was a tom-boy, and growing
up she played every sport she could. This was, of course,
in the 1950s, when girls didn't do such things and there
wasn't a lot of opportunity.

When I was growing up in the 70s, things had changed.
There were girls leagues everywhere, and my mom enrolled me
in all of them. I played softball, basketball, volleyball,
and tennis. I don't know whether I ever really wanted to
play, but I never said no. I suppose it was peer
pressure-after all, I knew lots of other girls who were
playing, too, and my mom was always the coach.

When I got to high school, I tried out for the Freshman
basketball team and made it. Before we started practicing,
however, the coach gave us a talk and told us that it was
going to be a lot of hard work. We would have to be at
school at 5 a.m. for practices. He would be hard on us,
and he expected us not to be quitters. If that was going
to be our attitude, he said, we might as well quit now. So
guess what? I quit. I decided it was too much effort. I
was not my mom. I really didn't want to be a jock. I was
more interested in "girly" things like music and theatre.
Trying out for Freshman basketball was the last time I ever
played. That was 1982!

Whatever possessed me to join a team now, I'm not sure I
will ever know. I got an email that they were starting up a
church league and looking for players. Something in me
just told me to join. So I did. Let me repeat: I don't
know why.

As time passed and our first game started to become a
reality (there were no practices, by the way-just games
every Saturday), I started panicking a little bit. It had
been 25 years-did I even remember the rules? Could I shoot
a basket? What the heck was I doing????

Alas, our first game day did arrive, and I headed to the
church. There I met the other women on my team-all of them
at least 10 years younger than I. Half of them were
clearly real athletes and played all the time. More panic
set in.

There were only six on our team that first day, so one
person got to sit out. I was hoping to be the first, but
someone else called it, so there I was, totally unsure of
myself, thrown in the middle of a real game!

About two minutes into the first quarter, I was dying! It
had been YEARS since I had run so much! My heart was
racing, and I literally wanted to throw up. I tried to sub
out but couldn't, because I didn't know the rules. Finally
our captain told me I could go out, and so I sat on the
sidelines for awhile to catch my breath and collect myself.

Again I wondered what the heck I was doing. What was to
stop me from just leaving? I was too old. I wasn't in
shape. I didn't even know the rules!

But I didn't go home. I stayed. And when it was time to
play again, I played as best I could. I didn't make any
baskets, but I passed the ball to team members who did, and
I prevented the other team from making some! I sat out a
lot, but I got back in when I was needed. And you know
what? We won! And I knew deep down that each week, if I
kept playing and kept practicing, I would get better.
Running would be easier. I would understand more. And who
knows? I might even score one for the team.

In the end, that's exactly what happened. I built up the
stamina to play an entire game without sitting out, and you
know what? By season's end, I had even scored 6 points for
the team.

Yes, I learned a lot about basketball that first day, but I
learned more about the principles of success.

I learned that the most important thing is to STAY IN THE
GAME! Maybe things aren't going as well as you'd hoped.
Maybe you feel like you're floundering and don't know the
rules. Maybe you need to sit out for a minute and catch
your breath. Just stay in the game! If you keep playing
and keep practicing, you will get better. It will get
easier. You will understand more, and you will win.

----------------------------------------------------
After her stressful life started giving her heart problems
when she was just 37, Margie Remmers turned her life around
and is now committed to helping others make the transition
from "stress-full" to stress-free. To find out how Margie
can help you, visit her online at:
http://www.ASimpleSolution.info